“The West Virginia Senate began crafting legislation immediately following the chemical spill that left 300,000 West Virginia residents without clean drinking water. Senate Bill 373 was introduced last week. It will allow the Department of Environmental Protection to register and inspect these facilities to make sure that what happened earlier this month will never happen again anywhere in West Virginia.

I welcome the Governor’s proposed legislation and will work closely with my Senate colleagues to see where the bills complement each other in order to ensure that the proper regulations are in place to protect our water resources and ensure that every West Virginia resident has access to clean drinking water. As lawmakers, we need to do everything possible to protect the safety of our water resources.”